


The One Where Derek Assumes Wrong

by countrygirlsfun



Series: Short Stuff [7]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Bisexual Derek Hale, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Minor Allison Argent/Isaac Lahey/Scott McCall, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-20 06:00:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8238539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/countrygirlsfun/pseuds/countrygirlsfun
Summary: College is a weird time for everyone. People have new experiences, learn new things and end up changing because of it.But this is ridiculous.Derek’s roommate has gone crazy, there is no other explanation.





	

College is a weird time for everyone. People have new experiences, learn new things and end up changing because of it.

But this is ridiculous.

Derek’s roommate has gone crazy, there is no other explanation.

The sad part is it’s not even a month into the new semester and Stiles has already appeared to have snapped.

Now, Derek has known Stiles for the last three years okay? He’s been through the night of clothes in the bathtub and naked Stiles in his bed. He’s been through countless test study sessions and Sunday morning hangovers. And like, they’re friends. Okay, so Stiles is Derek's best friend. 

Now, Derek has been out as bisexual since the spring of their freshman year and Stiles has never defined himself as anything but straight. And that was fine. It has been fine. Derek wasn’t really the type to have a new significant other every other week and Stiles, for all his partying, never brought anyone back to their dorm room. Derek was under the assumption that Stiles has been and is still indifferent to Derek’s sexual preferences.

But, this summer Derek went abroad with a group of students and faculty in his program. They went to Europe for two of the three months of break so Derek didn’t see Stiles at all during summer vacation. And when he got back to their newest, nicest shared living space, Derek couldn’t help but feel like things between them were a little bit…frosty.

So Derek spent all of syllabus week wracking his brain for what could have changed. He went through their texts first. And well. As his trip continued, Stiles’ texts got fewer and more sarcastic.

Derek wasn’t really the best at answering them reliably. There was so much to do and see, he wasn’t paying that much attention to his phone okay?

So he spends the next week texting Stiles first.

   “Want me to grab you a coffee?”

   “When are you having lunch?”

   “How is your day going?”

But Stiles’ answers are short and clipped. There is no effort to form a conversation or even meet up for lunch at all during the week. Which is not their standard operating procedure, especially at the beginning of the semester when projects and tests are far on the horizon.

So Derek goes searching again, this time through his Facebook posts from while he was gone. Almost all of them were made in the wee hours of the morning or late at night before he fell asleep. He wouldn’t have posted at all but his mother had made it a requirement if she was going to be financing him: constant updates.

But because he was so busy and exhausted at the end of every day, he hadn’t put much thought into what he posted, nor did he really check things over when he got home.

But now he thinks he may have found the problem.

It kind of looks like he’s dating one of the guys he went on the trip with.

80% of the photos are of Derek and Jason together places.

At their dinner table.

In a horse drawn carriage.

In front of a fountain in a plaza.

Admiring a cathedral.

But Derek doesn’t know why this is bothering Stiles. Even if he and Jason were dating, Stiles has never once before shown opposition to people dating other people of the same sex. His best friend Scott is in a polyamorous relationship with a girl and a guy right now for Pete’s sake. And he knows that Stiles and Scott are still as close as peanut butter and jelly.

Hell, Stiles’ snapchat stories have been filled with more pictures of boys at parties with captions like “what a cutie” or “❤️❤️❤️” for the last year than anything else. And at some point during the spring semester between tests and presentations, Stiles had waxed poetic about what male celebrities were the most attractive.

They had a similar conversation about female celebrities and Derek had suppressed his laughter at how much shorter the female list was in comparison.

So he doesn’t know why Derek’s sudden ‘relationship’ would be putting such a damper on their friendship.

A confrontation is in order, Derek decides, and he goes about it true Stiles-like dramatic fashion.

It’s satisfying when Stiles comes into his dark bedroom, flicks on the lights and yells when he sees Derek sitting patiently in his desk chair.

“What the hell are you doing in my room?” he demands, breathing heavily and his now empty hand is clutching his chest.

His note cards are scattered on the floor.

“We’re going to talk. I’m tired of needing to wear three sweaters just to walk past you in the kitchen,” Derek says calmly and Stiles pulls a face before he tosses his backpack at Derek and bends down to pick up the fallen notecards.

“You’re very witty. I have not been cold,” Stiles mumbles as he continues to gather the cards.

Derek scoffs, “I don’t know what else you would call it. You left read receipts on and haven’t answered my last three texts about food. Food, Stiles, as in, the love of your life.”

Stiles doesn’t rise to Derek’s irritation though and Derek is a little surprised when he simply falls back out of his crouch to sit on the floor. His back is pressed up against the doorframe and his knees are pulled to his chest. Derek hasn’t seen Stiles look so  _ small _ the entire time he’s known him.

“Really?” he says humorously, “Here I thought it was my laptop.”

Derek deflates instantly and squints at his best friend.

"That sounds like something Sarah would say,” Derek replies flatly and Stiles doesn’t look up at him, “Tell me you didn't spend the summer getting your heart trampled by her again," he continues and Stiles flinches but remains silent.

Derek tosses his hands in the air and stands up out of the chair so fast it bangs back into the desk.

"Stiles you promised!” Derek cries, a little distraught, “We agreed that she's your Janice and you need to stop having her in your life!"

"Yes, well, much like Chandler I'm hopeless and awkward and desperate for love!" Stiles fires back but he still sounds miserable. God maybe Derek has been looking at this from the wrong perspective. If Stiles spent the summer being with Sarah it’s no wonder he’s been withdrawn.

"You can find someone better than Sarah," Derek says sternly.

"Yeah, sure," Stiles huffs and fiddles with the notecards he gathered into a pile.

"Look, if you were lonely why didn't you text me? Why'd you stop talking to me?” Derek asks, pleads really. He just wants his best friend back.

"Didn't think you'd notice,” Stiles answers sullenly, “You looked pretty cozy with Jason on your trip."

Maybe Derek  _ was  _ right the first time.

"Is that what this is about? Stiles, I think given how long your childhood best friend has been dating a guy and how long you've been rooming with me, a bisexual, you would have gotten past being homophobic," Derek says, maybe too sharply given the way Stiles flinches again.

And then goes silent. Great.

"What is going on with you?" Derek demands impatiently and Stiles crumples further.

Derek is so lost.

"I don't know,” Stiles admits brokenly and Derek is horrified to hear tears in his voice and see his shoulders start to shudder, “I don't know and I hate it when I don't know something. Everything is so confusing and overwhelming and you were gone and-"

Derek drops down next to Stiles and pulls him into his arms in an instant. The way Stiles shakes in Derek's embrace breaks his heart and he doesn’t know how to make any of this better. 

This is only the second time Derek has ever seen Stiles cry and he hates that he has contributed to Stiles being so upset. 

“Shh, Stiles, I’m sorry okay? I’m sorry I yelled just, what can I do?” Derek tries to comfort gently, running his fingers through Stiles’ hair on the back of his head trying to calm him down.

“Do- do you have time- could you just sit with me? Please?” Stiles sniffs not looking up from where he’s buried his face in Derek’s chest and Derek nods.

“Of course. Stiles, let’s sit on your bed though,” Derek persuades and Stiles goes pliantly, allowing Derek to get them situated on Stiles bed. 

Despite the length of their friendship, they haven't ever really done the whole bed-sharing, cuddling close, lying with each other thing. But now that he has Stiles curled into his chest, Derek is questioning why they've waited so long to do this. 

Stiles only takes a few moments to pull himself together. But even when the deep controlled breaths cease Derek doesn't let him pull away. 

“So start at the beginning,” Derek eases in gently, “what's confusing?”

Stiles sighs and shifts against Derek's chest but doesn't move away in the slightest. 

“It really bugged me seeing you with Jason on your trip,” he admits plainly. “But I have no reason to be bothered by that. You like dudes so why should I have a problem with you dating a dude.”

Derek hmms along, keeping his fingers soothingly stroking Stiles’ hair when he starts working himself up again. 

“You were a continent away so I couldn't talk face to face with you, Scott, Isaac and Allison were all gone for the summer and I had no one to rant to until I worked it out so I just...avoided it. And then Sarah showed up and we got to talking and it was just  _ easy _ and I could forget.”

Derek nods in acknowledgment, thinking for a moment before he chimes in. Much like his father, Stiles reads people very well, but he still needs to be in the room with them to have serious conversations. Stiles has to see the person and their nonverbal reactions to truly understand their response. And Derek knows how much he leans towards avoidance instead of actively facing his problems. 

The Kitchen Sink Ecosystem of 2014 is proof of that. 

And with Derek gone, Stiles could effectively avoid the problem. The scarce texts and the aversion on campus makes sense now. 

“And when I came back…” he starts and Stiles huffs a little. The air blowing across Derek's collarbones and Stiles’ nose rubbing gently on his neck makes his insides feel all fluttery. 

Oh. Oh  _ no _ \- 

“When you came back I had to deal with it. But I realized something while I was with Sarah anyway.”

“What?” Derek prompts, voice a little croaky, when Stiles pauses again. 

“She was right,” Stiles says, voice a bare whisper and it makes Derek bristle a little because he has no idea what kind of trash she was telling Stiles and what he's agreeing with. 

Stiles’ hand flattens on Derek's chest and he realizes he had taken a big breath in and held it, preparing a rant automatically. 

“She was right when she said I'm in love with you,” Stiles says gently, looking up at Derek with those glowing, gorgeous brown eyes with such a resigned expression Derek can't handle it. 

“And I know this comes out of nowhere and I just didn't know how to deal with it so I didn't. I figured if I spent some more time away from you maybe it would go away.”

“Did you- do you want it to go away?” Derek asks tentatively. 

“Do you?” Stiles asks by way of an answer. 

“I could get used to the idea, if you decide to deal with those feelings instead of avoiding them,” Derek offers and Stiles’ brow furrows adorably. 

“What about Jason?” he asks and Derek smiles reflexively. 

“What about him?” he asks innocently and Stiles rolls his eyes. 

“Isn't he you know, dating you?” Stiles asks impatiently and Derek barely contains a laugh. 

“He's a little busy dating his wife,” he answers flatly and Stiles’ eyes go wide and surprised. 

“Oh thank God,” he breathes before he's tilting his face up and slotting their lips together in a gentle kiss. 

Derek pulls back in surprise and finds Stiles smirking at him. 

“Want to get something to eat?” he asks as he leans out of Derek's embrace and crawls out of the bed. 

Derek is already missing the warmth of Stiles’ body along his. He's never going to survive this relationship. 

“Dining center?” he offers and Stiles scrunches his nose and shakes his head. 

“Not for our first date, mister.”

Derek laughs and slides off the bed, pulling Stiles close to him by his hips. Maybe Stiles hasn't gone crazy after all. 

“You pick supper,” Derek offers, “and I'll pick dessert.”

Stiles gets a glint in his eye at that. 

“What if I want  _ you _ for dessert?”

“That can be arranged.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Remember that story about the roommate being confused why he hated his roommate's boyfriends? but he wasn't homophobic and he just realized he liked his roommate and was jealous? That's the inspiration for this fic :)
> 
> Come talk to me on [Tumblr](http://www.acountrygirlsfun.tumblr.com/) any time!


End file.
